Wilmington Council allocates $350K in ARPA funds, invests $35K in 75th Azalea Fest

The Wilmington City Council held a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday night, discussing crime and several funding items. 

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The Wilmington City Council held a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday night, discussing crime and several funding items.

At the beginning of the meeting, Police Chief Donny Williams presented the year-end crime statistics for 2021. Overall, violent crime went down and property crime went up, but the city saw the second-lowest overall crime totals since 2009. The lowest overall crime totals since 2009 occurred in 2020.

The Wilmington Fire Department could soon be hiring 12 new firefighters. The council voted to allow the city manager to apply for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant from the Department of Homeland Security for $2,120,868. If approved for the grant, the money would be split up over three years and support the hiring of 12 new firefighters that would staff Station 6, the station soon to be built in the Riverlights community.

The council also voted to allocate $250,000 of the city’s $25.9-million in American Rescue Plan Act Funds to the Cape Fear Collective to support affordable housing. The money will be used by the organization to acquire existing residential units in the city and be used as affordable housing for at least 20 years. The units will be rented to households earning at or below 80-percent of the area median income adjusted for family size. Rents will not exceed 30-percent of the household income unless it is paid by another organization with a rent subsidy, such as a Housing Choice Voucher.

Another $100,000 of the city’s ARPA funds were given to Genesis Block to create more opportunities for small businesses. Genesis Block plans to hire an educational coordinator at a salary between $45,000 and $65,000, expand their training online to make it more accessible, and increase their marketing to underserved entrepreneurs and small business owners.

Lastly, the council voted to invest $35,000 into the Azalea Festival to help fund a nationally headlining musical act for the special welcome celebration for the 75th anniversary of the festival. The festival asked for the funds in hopes to make the tickets to the celebration more affordable for everyone interested in attending.

Many council members supported the idea of investing in the festival that brings millions of dollars into the local economy, but Councilman Luke Waddell expressed that the $35,ooo in taxpayer dollars could be better used elsewhere. Waddell and Councilman Neil Anderson were the only two dissenting votes for this item.